New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday felicitated the engineers and scientists of ISRO on the successful launch of the South Asia Satellite and said it will open up new avenues of cooperation.

"It will strengthen the historical bonds with our neighbours, opening up new vistas of cooperation and cohabitation in technology and communications," she said.

"Congrats to @isro on the launch of #SouthAsiaSatellite! Each milestone makes us proud of the tremendous ingenuity&talent of our scientists," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet.

An Indian rocket with the over two tonne South Asia Satellite or GSAT-9, intended to address the region`s "economic and developmental priorities", blasted off from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh on Friday.